Semler Scientific (OTCMKTS:SMLR) and AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
12.1% of Semler Scientific shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of AxoGen shares are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of Semler Scientific shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of AxoGen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Semler Scientific and AxoGen, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Semler Scientific | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
AxoGen | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
Semler Scientific presently has a consensus price target of $110.50, suggesting a potential upside of 8.33%. AxoGen has a consensus price target of $23.75, suggesting a potential upside of 19.17%. Given AxoGen's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AxoGen is more favorable than Semler Scientific.
Profitability
This table compares Semler Scientific and AxoGen's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Semler Scientific | 32.08% | 67.38% | 52.42% |
AxoGen | -22.98% | -19.83% | -14.88% |
Risk and Volatility
Semler Scientific has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AxoGen has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Semler Scientific and AxoGen's top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Semler Scientific | $32.77 million | 20.86 | $15.08 million | $1.88 | 54.26 |
AxoGen | $106.71 million | 7.61 | $-29,140,000.00 | ($0.68) | -29.31 |
Semler Scientific has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AxoGen. AxoGen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Semler Scientific, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Semler Scientific beats AxoGen on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.